It's the second season on the national umpire panel for Mike Graham-Smith and the Hobart school teacher says there's been a few changes to adjust to as he's moved up in the umpiring ranks.

"I think a lot of it was new, very new particularly in front of big crowds where you don't tend to hear a great deal.

"Some of the things that you normally rely upon, you have to use other techniques and bring in other facets of your game in order to make decisions," he says.

With larger crowd noises and added pressure of higher quality games, Mike says he has to 'harness a lot of other senses there to help you out and make sure that your eyes are well and truly switched on'.

"Your focus tends to be really at the other end [of the cricket pitch] and what's happening at that focus zone so yes, I think with more experience you're aware of what's going on.

"But really the decision has to be made on what you hear and what you see," he says.

Mike says the highlight for his first season was walking out onto the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) to umpire a Sheffield Shield match between New South Wales and Victoria.

"When I walked out there, that's the first time I'd actually been on the field at the MCG, I've been in the stands before to watch football and cricket and what-not but it's an amazing colosseum," he says.

The Tasmanian umpire was also part of a Sheffield Shield day-night experimental matches using the unconventional pink ball.

"The pink ball in Brisbane held up very well indeed and for most of the time it was really good to see.

"Come the twilight, there was just an occasion there in between the daylight and the night time, it wasn't too bad, but it just became a little more difficult to see," says Mike.

The school teacher says he does draw on his main profession for guidance, but there is a limit.

"You don't want to be too authoritarian really, otherwise I think the player would lose respect for you pretty quickly.

"It's like a workplace, you've really got to work with them and you have to be respected in that environment," he says.

The future of umpire development within Tasmania looks strong according to Mike.

"We've got a good system here in Tasmania and producing good umpires under our state director Richard Widows so hopefully it'll continue for a long time into the future," he says.

The schedule for the 2014-15 domestic season is yet to be released and all the latest information can be found on the Cricket Tasmania website.